The big money of the hero city

How the authorities "lose" the billions received from the federal budget, the key enterprises are on the verge of closure, but the "own" have a business with a margin of over 100 000%

The last two years in Russia, there are three entities that receive from the state treasury special, nominal subsidies: Chechnya, the Crimea and Sevastopol. Assistance to these regions is prescribed in the state budget in separate lines.

Sevastopol in 2017 received in the form of a special subsidy 5.17 billion rubles, in 2018 - 5.4 billion. This money is allocated "to the budget balance" of the city - in contrast to the subsidies "to equalize the budgetary security", which receive the majority of regions The Russian Federation; this money is not tied to any specific projects: the authorities of Sevastopol can dispose of them at their discretion.

In addition, Sevastopol receives other types of subsidies, including within the framework of the Federal Target Program for the Development of the Crimea (FTP). Over five years from the state budget, the city has been transferred more than 75 billion rubles. The economy of Sevastopol depends on federal money more than 50%.

Immediately after the "Crimean spring" the Sevastopol politicians declared the need to make the city economically independent. "If the city will be [budget] deficit, then there is nothing to talk about: no serious social programs, or development. In order to ensure development, you must first learn how to earn money, "- said the speaker of the city Legislative Assembly and the director of the Agency for Strategic Development of Sevastopol, Alexei Chaly.

Then there was a well-known conflict between Chaly and the governor of the city Sergei Meyailo, accusations against the mayor that he does not want to develop the economy. And in the end - the departure of Chaloy and Menyailo from leading posts.

Political scandals continued under the new governor Dmitri Ovsyannikov. It got to the point that in December 2017 the Legislative Assembly nearly failed to accept the budget for 2018-2020: the deputies did not like the government's plans to cut the financing of the Control and Accounting Chamber by 30%.

For political squabbles, the economic development of Sevastopol somehow fell into the background. Even the city officials themselves call the investment climate of Sevastopol "negative." Meanwhile, the city's expenses are increasing every year: in 2015 they amounted to 25.3 billion rubles, in 2018 they should reach 39.5 billion, and in 2020 - 42.2 billion rubles.

Pay these costs, most likely, will again have to the state treasury. But what about Sevastopol? "Novaya Gazeta" explored the economy of the hero city and found out:

- the key enterprises of the city are on the verge of bankruptcy, and a significant part of small and medium-sized businesses is already bankrupt;

- subsidies from the federal budget are partially "lost" in the bursting banks, are spent inappropriately and get to companies with a dubious reputation.

Trumpet money

The most expensive Sevastopol project, which is planned to be implemented at the expense of the federal budget, is the construction of sewage treatment facilities "Southern". With their help, the city should solve the problem with the annual discharge to the Black Sea of ​​25 million cubic meters of untreated sewage: waste of human life in the amount of 10,000 Olympic basins flow directly into the sea in Balaklava, near the Nakhimov school (Streletskaya and Sandy bays) and Blue Bay - places for swimming. To solve this problem is extremely important for attracting tourists. Especially in the light of the opening of the Crimean bridge.

6.8 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the construction of the "Southern". Of these, 2,055 billion have been commissioned to date, this money is transferred as an advance to the contractor, the St. Petersburg company Biotechprogress.

However, according to Novaya Gazeta, the construction of sewage treatment plants can be disrupted. According to the documents that were at the disposal of the editorial staff, most of the advance was trivial: about 1.5 billion rubles disappeared in the fractured Petersburg bank OFK, about 250 million were spent inappropriately, and another 250 million "ate" taxes. Due to the huge loss of funds, the implementation of the entire project is now hanging by a thread.

Treasury offside

The state contract for the construction of the "Southern" was signed on December 25, 2017. According to his terms, for the transfer of funds for the construction of treatment plants, Biotechprogress was to open a special account in the Federal Treasury.

But already on December 26 an additional agreement was concluded between the government of Sevastopol and the contractor, which indicated that the money would be transferred to the account of Biotekhprogress in the St. Petersburg bank OFC, which at that time held 83rd place in the rating of Russian banks.

On December 29, 2017 the government of Sevastopol transferred to the contractor an advance payment of 2 055 864 000 rubles to the account in the "OFC".

For 4 months things went on as usual: Biotechprogress fenced two sites for construction and hired security guards.

And on April 16, the unforeseen happened - the Central Bank revoked the license from the bank "OFC". The regulator explained that the bank used a "risky business model", financing the interconnected enterprises of the alcohol industry. As Novaya Gazeta found out, it is about issuing bank guarantees to the North Caucasian alcoholic beverages that poured vodka for the Status-Group company. In February 2018, "Status Groups" announced its bankruptcy. The bottling plants stopped serving their loans as early as in late 2017.

The audit of the Control and Accounts Chamber of Sevastopol (its results is at the disposal of the editorial staff) found that due to problems with lending to alcoholic beverages, OFC bank completely lost its own capital. The Agency for Deposit Insurance came to the same conclusion.

"Thus, most of the advance transferred to Biotechprogress and placed on the accounts of OFC was lost," the source of Novaya Gazeta in Sevastopol's government said.

Here the question arises: by whose initiative 2,055 billion rubles were placed not in the Federal Treasury, as it was established by the initial terms of the contract, but in a bank that "uses a risky business model"?

At the disposal of "Novaya" were information from the draft report of the Main Control Office of Sevastopol, which should soon lie on the table of the governor of the city. In the report, the general director of Biotechprogress Denis Petrov declares: "The issues of forming and changing the terms of the state contract are not within the competence of the contractor." At once three sources of Novaya Gazeta in the government of Sevastopol confirmed: the initiative to change the Federal Treasury to "OFC" came from the city government, and one of them specified that the substitute was initiated by Deputy Governor Mikhail Demidenko, who heads the city department of capital construction.

- Demidenko previously headed the committee for the construction of St. Petersburg. "OFC" is a St. Petersburg bank, "the source explained.

"Novaya Gazeta" appealed to Mikhail Demidenko's office with a request to comment on whether he really had any relation to the choice of "OFC". The governor answered in person, saying that he had not taken any part in the selection of the bank.

The government of Sevastopol responded to the official request of Novaya Gazeta with a request to clarify on whose initiative the treasury was replaced by the "OFC", as follows: "The state contract for the KOS Yuzhnye facility was on behalf of the state institution" ". <...> Taking into account the provisions of the Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of 08.12.2017 No. 220n, the certainty regarding the need for treasury support of contracts for the provision of state needs of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, concluded for the amount of 100,000 rubles or more, acquired completeness only after the entry of this subordinate regulatory act into force - 05.01.2018, therefore the state contract No. 15 CBS-EA and the additional agreement to it were concluded in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force at the time of the transaction. "

In other words, the replacement of the Treasury with "OFC" was legal, and it was not explained in whose government this change occurred, in the government of Sevastopol.

The position of the government of Sevastopol looks strange in the light of the fact that at the end of July the Investigative Committee instituted criminal proceedings against the former head of the Department for Exploitation of Sevastopol City Facilities, Alexander Antufeev, who signed an agreement on the replacement of the Treasury with "OFC". "In December 2017, the then acting Director of the Office concluded a state contract with JSC NPP" Biotechprogress "in the amount of almost 7 billion rubles for the construction of the facility, and then - further agreement with him with the illegal exclusion of provisions on the need for treasury support ", The press service of the ministry said.

The interlocutors of the "Novaya Gazeta" in the government of Sevastopol are called Antyufeyev's switchman. "A mid-level manager can not make decisions on billions of projects," they note.

Money goes to Saki

However, it is an exaggeration to say that all 2.055 billion rubles in advance was "burnt" in "OFC". As established by Novaya Gazeta, the net loss of the advance from the bankruptcy of the credit institution was only about 1.5 billion rubles. The remaining funds were partially spent in a non-intended way: for example, Biotekhprogress transferred 30 million rubles to OOO Kodar, which builds a storm sewage system in the Crimean city of Saki. Another 143,800,000 rubles were transferred to the St. Petersburg company "Gidronneftestroy", one of the co-founders of which was previously Denis Petrov, general director of Biotechprogress.

Denis Petrov himself during the checkup, organized by the government of Sevastopol, said that the money allocated for the construction of the "Southern", to outside organizations were not translated. However, the fact of conducting operations is confirmed by bank statements.

The main control department of Sevastopol, which carried out the inspection of Biotechprogress, also fixed the transfer of part of the advance funds to the company's accounts with Sberbank. At the request of Novaya Gazeta, the head of the control department, Sergey Elizarov, refused to comment on the information on violations when using budget funds. He also noted that the information on the results of the inspection, which were at the disposal of Novaya Gazeta, "are only preliminary."

Representatives of the company "Biotechprogress" did not respond to the official request of Novaya Gazeta.

Will the treatment facilities be handed over - an open question. According to our sources in the government of Sevastopol, Biotechprogress, in spite of the loss of 2 billion rubles, is ready to finish building them. But with a significant lag behind the schedule: for the first and second quarters of 2018 the company managed to perform only about 10% of the planned work.

The case with sewage treatment plants "Southern" is not the first in Sevastopol, when federal money is in the hands of people and companies with an ambiguous reputation. So, in December 2017, 1 billion 59 million rubles under the Federal Target Program for the Development of the Crimea and Sevastopol were allocated to Glasok Krym LLC for the reconstruction of Victory Park. Subsequently, at the disposal of Novaya Gazeta were materials of the criminal case against the director general of Glasok Krym, Alexander Pozharsky. The Investigation Committee suspects him of tax evasion for a total of 104,646,529 rubles. A businessman may face up to 6 years in prison. At the moment, according to our data, the accounts of the company are frozen, the investigation of the criminal case continues, and most of the work in the Victory Park is suspended.

About the key enterprises of Sevastopol (including the famous winery "Inkerman"), about the super-marginal hunting business that pays the city 145 rubles 21 kopecks per year, and how the authorities refuse investors ready to pay billions, read in the next issue.